The present invention is related to integrated wheel ends for wheel suspensions of motor vehicles.
Wheel ends and bearing assemblies for motor vehicles are known and have been widely used in the automotive industry for many years. A typical vehicle wheel end may include a bearing assembly which is disposed about a shaft and hub and mounted to a steering knuckle by means of fasteners or interference fittings. The bearing assembly is preloaded by a locking nut which secures the bearing assembly with the hub and the shaft.
Although current wheel end assemblies are adequate, wheel end manufacturers have been challenged with weight, mass, fretting, creeping, and bending issues. For example, during normal operation of the vehicle, in many cases, the wheel end axially moves or creeps along its rotational axis where bending is experienced. The results are undesirable. Moreover, many current designs of vehicle wheel ends include relatively high mass and volume.